I have always loved words. Talking, reading, or writing. I am a chatterbox. I talk a lot. Always have. I used to get in trouble in school for being a social butterfly. I haven’t been able to put books down since I learned how to read. I have been writing since elementary school.

I always knew that I loved words in all forms. But I never knew that love could grow so immensely until I heard my child utter his first words. It started when he was around 9 months old. 9 1/2 months to be more precise. I stopped in my tracks the first time I heard him form a real word. I was caught totally off guard. He was crying for us. He had just woken up for the day. I went into his room. He was sitting in his crib and as soon as he saw me he started crying “momma momma momma” I couldn’t believe it!

Fast forward to now. Today (literally) he is 17 months old. I am desperately clinging to this last month of having a toddler under a year and a half. But that is for another post. Today I have to talk about how excited I am to hear WORDS from his precious pouty mouth. Last week he started saying “yellow.” He loves cars. He has this set of Maters. From Cars2. Mater in all of his secret agent disguises. There is a yellow one. I asked him, “Jack do you want your yellow Mater? Can you say yellow?” He looked at me and said “Wheh Whoa!” HE SAID YELLOW. That is not a particularly easy word. It is also a two syllable word. I was flabbergasted. I always ask him to repeat things or words I say. I am constantly asking him to try to use his words. Yet it still caught me by surprise. I was elated.

He has been working on the word flower for a while. I have flowers throughout the house. I have my wedding bouquet dried and on a wine rack in our dining room where we eat every day. I also have a fake orchid in my dining room. (I cannot have real plants. They die) But he has been taken with them for months. If you ask him where the flowers are he points. For a while he had been saying “fa” in reference to them. Yesterday he was working so hard to saying flower. “Ffffa-ah” On his own. We were sitting there enjoying breakfast and he started pointing and saying “ffffa-ah” over and over. Much later in the day we were at the grocery store. On his own he spotted some flowers and started saying “fffa-ah” again!

It makes my heart grow a million sizes bigger each time he gets a new word or phrase. I love communicating with him. I love hearing his little raspy voice work out new or old words. I am a big believer in using your words. When he is upset and having a tantrum I ask him to stop and use his words. I get to his level and look him in the eyes and tell him I can’t help him until he uses his words and tells me what he wants or what is wrong. If he knows the word he really stops and tries to tell me. I have found it to be a great relief during tantrums.

Words. They have been such a big part of my entire life. But I never truly appreciated them the way I do now. It is amazing the world a child can open up. The most simple thing, saying the word yellow, can make your day, week, and month so amazing!

my cool little talker